Beloved novelist, poet, and educator Ocean Vuong joins his friend and colleague Adrian Matejka, editor of Poetry magazine, for a hilarious, heartbreaking, and affirming conversation about the power of the sentence.

SHOW NOTES:

Read the podcast transcript.

CW: Discussion of drug addiction

PHOTO: Ocean Vuong and Adrian Matejka on stage at the Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture at the Chicago Humanities Spring Festival in May 2025.

Read:

Ocean Vuong, The Emperor of Gladness

Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

Poetry Magazine

Explore:

Ben Lerner

Yusef Komunyakaa

Sharon Olds

Djuna Barnes, Knightwood

Lyn Hejinian

Bernadette Mayer

Bhanu Kapil

Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's, Dictée

Lady Murasaki, The Tale of Genji

André Breton, Manifestoes of Surrealism

Aimé Césaire, Notebook of a Return to My Native Land

Federico García Lorca

Gabriel García Márquez

Live event programmed by Michael Green

Live event produced by Jesse Swanson

Live event stage managed by Danny Fender

Live event produced and mixed by Nick Broste

Production assistance by River Williams and Logan Venezia

Podcast edited and mixed by Alisa Rosenthal

Podcast story editing by Alexandra Quinn

Help shape the future of the podcast! Let us know what you think by taking the short survey.

Donate now to support programs like this.

Explore upcoming events.

Instagram • YouTube • TikTok • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn

B3EYK2S9BZSDLJ60

Ocean Vuong Uses the Sentence as a Tool to Understand Deep Mystery